Written by Jacob Van Gundy | issued
Several asteroids will pass close to Earth in the coming days, some of them surprisingly close from an astronomical point of view. These space rocks join several others that did not approach Earth on October 24th. With such a high density of objects passing by, it’s clear why NASA is monitoring their orbits so closely.
Between now and October 28, five asteroids will orbit Earth very closely. NASA monitoring teams are tracking them all and monitoring the approach of these potentially dangerous space rocks. The team maintains an online dashboard that provides the public with information such as its size, distance, orbit, and date of its passage past Earth.
One day, three asteroids
October 26th will be the most active day in the coming days, with three asteroids passing close to Earth. These meteors range in diameter from 64 feet to 110 feet, with the smallest being called “house-sized” and the two larger rocks “plane-sized.” The smallest of these will be closest to Earth, only 132,000 miles away at its closest point.
October 27th and 28th will each see the passage of one asteroid, including another near miss. On October 27th, a space rock the size of an airplane will fly by Earth, 3.4 million miles away. Another small rock, about the size of a bus, is even closer, 148,000 miles away at its closest point.
A busy month for asteroids
All of this activity comes on the heels of an even more active day on Oct. 24, when four asteroids pass close to Earth. Future rocks will be much closer to Earth, with none coming more than 4.8 million miles away on October 24th. But the space rocks on Oct. 24 were much larger, reaching the size of a skyscraper, and the largest had a radius of 580 feet.
Large asteroids, like the one that passed by on October 24, are of particular concern to scientists because they have the potential to cause major disasters. Skyscraper-sized space rocks have been dubbed “city killers” because they can destroy areas several miles wide if they hit Earth. Even more worrying is a giant “planet killer” large enough to disrupt the entire planet.
close call
Two of the asteroids that passed by on the 24th were of particular concern because NASA discovered them less than a month before they passed. Experiments have proven that rockets can be used to avoid dangerous space collisions, but preparation takes time. A recent exercise designed to test the international response to these types of disasters found that the space community lacks the capacity to deal with these problems on short notice.
It is alarming that so many potentially dangerous asteroids are approaching Earth, even if none are on a collision path with Earth. Now that scientists can avoid collisions with rockets, it’s more important than ever to closely monitor collisions. It’s only a matter of time before one of these giant rocks hits Earth, but if detected early enough, it might be averted.
sauce: NASA
